AB-PR2-1950-018 — Women at Leisure (c. 1950)

Technical information

Title : Women at Leisure
Date : c. 1950
Technique : Oil on canvas
Dimensions : 100 × 81 cm
Location : Private collection

Biographical / historical context

This large-format painting belongs to the “Arcadian” side of the early 1950s: a group of figures set in an idealised Provençal landscape.

It dates from a moment when Breuillaud combines a volumetric figuration inherited from the 1930s–1940s with a gradual simplification of space into broad masses, anticipating the transition towards PR3 (1951–1952).

In such compositions, the pastoral theme (bathers / conversation) functions as a laboratory: sustaining a humanist figuration while testing a more synthetic organisation of planes.

Formal / stylistic description

Three figures occupy the foreground: a seated woman on the left (bare torso) with her profile inclined; a standing female figure at centre; and, on the right, a figure seen from behind, draped in a red cloth.

On the left, a tree structures the scene with a dark vertical trunk and curved branches; in the distance, a succession of hills and a group of cypresses establish the horizon.

The palette combines warm earths, muted greens and soft blues; the bodies are modelled with broad passages and simple tonal values, with slightly accentuated contours that stabilise the volumes.

Comparative analysis / related works

Through its pastoral theme and the monumental treatment of the nudes, the painting extends an older corpus of Arcadian scenes while becoming lighter: backgrounds grow more schematic and the space is simplified.

It contrasts with contemporary PR2 landscapes (for example PR2-1950-017 and PR2-1950-020), where faceted construction and the relationships between planes take precedence; here, cohesion depends first on the volumes of the figures and the triangular balance of the scene.

Justification of dating and attribution

The combination of still ample modelling (a figurative inheritance) and an already perceptible simplification of the environment places the work around 1950, at a moment when these two dynamics briefly coexist.

The stylistic features and palette are consistent with the PR2 corpus; the circa 1950 dating and attribution to André Breuillaud are retained.

Provenance / exhibitions / publications

Private collection.